A couple other operational observations I would like to elaborate on...
Appearances aside, the Tommy's locations on campus and Arlington are capable of cranking out some very high-volume when the need arises. For example, home football games for THE Ohio State University (both locations), and week-end take-out business (particularly Lane Ave). I rememeber being in the the Campus location in the 80's on a Fri before the game, and staff getting a head start on the next day. The bathrooms are located in the lower level, and there is also a large "party room" down there which was used as a make-shift kitchen before games.
I remember seeing dozens of rolling racks full of pizza skins sitting in a room-temp environment in the party room. It didn't appear that refrigeraration was essential in the preparation of Tommy's crust, as speculated earlier in this thread {at least in the "Classic" era} . I can't remember what type of pan was used, just that there lots of them on the racks, stacked high, and sitting at room temperature approximately 24 hours before they were used.
I also suspect that lard was used in the original formulation, based on the characteristics of cold left-over pizza the day after. Biting into a cold Tommy's crust was kind of like sinking your teeth into a pastry or pie crust, and had that same greasy residue sensation. I also remember a slight pork flavor - though it could have also come from the pepperoni or provolone. This possibility has been mentioned previously, and I truly believe shortening or lard may have been used back in the day.
The on-campus kitchen was not visisble to the public, but the Arlington ovens were in plain view for drooling customers waiting patiently at the carry-out counter. They did not use pans in the ovens - at least back then. Rather, they had used those long two-pronged forks to move the pizzas around. I don't remember bricks, and they may have baked them directly on the rire oven racks.
Tommy's crust was always a topic of conversation, even 30 years ago, and I remember an employee telling me that Tommy Iacano would visit each location daily, and mix the dough himself. If I recall correctly, Mr Iacano passed away in the late 90's, and this correletes roughly with the changes in methods, and the perceived decline of the classic Tommy's formula.
I should also mention that the "fermentation" of the dough might also be a point of debate. This may be 100% correct, but I always felt the sauce was a little more prominant than has been discussed thus far. To me, the sauce had some red wine overtones, and this may be partially {or wholly} responsible for the fermentation flavor noted in the crust.
What does this all mean from a technical standpoint? I don't believe the original method was quite as labor-intensive as one might expect, given the unique crust texture of the final product. Certainly some sheeting was involved, but I don't think there were many stages of dough prep after that. Also, that the newer processes, along with the founder's passing, further simplified their formulation, while also reducing the quality of the end product. The fact that the crust has maintained some familiar characteristics over 30 plus years tells me that the dough recipe and sheeting process are the most important variables.
I'd love to hear Ryan's thoughts as he has actually attempted to replicate the Classic formulation that I can only recall from memory. Again, let me reiterate that the final product has been wildly inconsistent between locations, and over several decades...
